Notes / Commercial Description:
This sad holiday season we didn’t have the brewing capacity to make our favorite seasonal brew, the widely feared BrownShugga’ Ale. You see we had a couple of really good years (thank you very much) and so heading into this season while we are awaiting the January delivery of a new brewhouse we are jammin’ along brewing 80 barrels of IPA and PILS and such every 3 hours. A couple of months back we realized that since we can only brew a mere 60 barrels of Shugga’ every 5 hours, that we were seriously screwed. For every case of Shugga’ brewed, we’d short 3 cases of our favorite daily beers. It’s a drag. This year, we brewed something that we think is also cool and brews more like our daily brews. The new brewhouse will help insure this kind of failure never happens again. It’s a mess that we can not brew our BrownShugga’ this year and we suck for not doing it. There is nothing cool about screwing this up this badly and we know it. Maybe we can sue our own sorry selves. There is no joy in our hearts this holiday and the best we can hope for is a quick and merciful end. F*@& us. This totally blows. Whatever. We freaking munch moldy donkey butt and we just want it to be all over...
So this substitute beer is a ‘Cereal Medley’ of Barley, Rye, Wheat, and Oats…. Full of complexishness from the 4 grains, and weighing in at 7.85% abv, Then joyously dry-hopped for that big aroma and resinous hop flavor.

Wow. I've had this beer in my fridge for a few weeks now and just wasn't excited about it. Well today I opened it up, and was very surprised. Very nice blend of hops, oats, barley and rye. I'm guessing it's the citra hop, but I'm no pro, so probably wrong. Great beer that deserves the rating it's given. Hopefully the quality won't go away with the Heineken ownership now.

Had this on tap at the recommendation of the small bar (Lair Hill Pub here in Portland)...I requested something like a doppelbock...this fit the bill.

Pours dark cola brown with barely any translucence, and a thick creamy brownish tan head spilling over the top...I wouldn't call it thick or creamy to the palate, but definitely hearty, chewy, and medium-bodied. Full flavored... with both citrus hopping and carmel maltiness, slight overtones towards molasses but not overly sweet... Quite a tasty to sip all night

Bought a 32oz bottle (1 quart) and poured it into a pint shaped 12oz glass (obviously, extra in bottle). Didn't see an expiration date but the bottle number is (printed this way):

191 5 2
0580 1508

Appearance: golden with a hazy color to it. It was lively and very carbonated. As I was finishing the beer from the glass, the foam (head) was easily seen and can be used as markers on how much I drank. It clings to the side of the glass

Smell: toasty, herbal, and citrusy. The odder was strong as when I opened the bottle, you can smell it right away

Taste: very hoppy and furmenty with an after taste. It was not dry so you can still taste the beer in your throat. It's sweet and fruity which causes an after taste

Mouth feel: crisp, carbonated, and heavy. You can taste what you smell and it lingers in your mouth

Overall: a great beer that has real flavor. The high alcohol content can be felt in how heavy the beer taste. There is a lot of foam present on the side of the glass so the beer kept its balance. Could only drink 2-3 at most because it is both heavy with ABV and taste. Went to the brewery site and it's "not" a seasonal beer but is brewed when available. Well worth trying and having around to share.